Design Committee Meeting
March 11, 2010

MINUTES

Attendence: Denise Best, Jeremey Galeota, Michael Mancini, Anothony Rinaldi, Herman Todd, Yvette Mosely, Keith Tinker, Chris Grant, Glenn Geathers, Luz Garcia, Precious Ross-Ellis, Glendowlyn Hall

Meeting- Meeting called to order at 10:15 AM by Denise Best.

Minutes- Motion to accept the Minutes of February 11, 2010 by Keith Tinker. Meeting was duly made and seconded. Unanimous.

Route 44 Improvement Project

• The Route 44 Improvement Project is moving along.
• The mayor and David Panagor are in conversations with the chairman of the MDC to discuss merging the projects together. Legal issues and logistics still need to be worked out but they would like the MDC to manage the project to affect cost savings.
• The mayor will hold a Safety Improvement Project meeting: Wednesday March 17^th at 6:00 PM at the Upper Albany branch library
• This meeting will be held to update the community of the project.
• Due to lack of funding available they have reduced the cost and scaled back the project.
• The mayor will answer questions and provide the community with the opportunity to voice their concerns.

Library

• The project is currently moving forward.
• Passed P&Z and received approval.
• Currently working on the remediation of the site. There are environmental concerns in the lot including contaminated soil that must be removed.
• Looking at Capital Improvement Projects for funding. Need approval from city council for funding.
• This is a priority of the mayor and he is pushing for it but this will also require lobbying efforts for approval. Glendowlyn has recommended sending a letter to council president Pedro Sagaro and council members.
• Date for ground breaking was originally scheduled for the spring. This has been pushed back to the summer awaiting approval from council. Completion in the spring of 2011.

MDC

• Edgewood Street
  • Progressed on lateral instillation work. About 70-80% complete.
  • Mid-summer completion date for laterals.
  • Sidewalks under construction.
  • No major issues.
  • Burton Street
    • Between Homestead and Albany. Includes four streets: Irving, Magnolia, Sigourney, and Burton
    • New water mains, storm drains, and sewers.
    • Community outreach meeting held on 3/4/10 went extremely well. There was good attendance from the community and the outreach team was able to answer the questions of the residents. This was the best turn out they have had and will continue to disseminate information through the outreach team.
    • Outreach team is contacting residents for permission to work in their basements.
    • CNG has begun and completed some work on Homestead. CNG installed laterals on Sigourney Street.
    • All four streets will receive new gas service upgrades. Contractor will follow with sewer work.
    • Anticipated construction start date: April. Two year construction duration. City will issue permits to start work.
    • Garden Street
      • In preconstruction phase. The work on Garden is different from the work done on Burton. New sewers will be installed through trenchless technology.
      • New sewers installed on Liberty Street.
      • Rehabilitating sewers on Albany Avenue.
      • Lining work on sewers will likely be the first act to occur.
      • Lining work not as destructive as open cut. They will go in through manholes rather than digging up existing sewer. This gives them the ability to uproot the pipes without causing major destruction.  The lining is pulled through existing pipes and then hardens essentially making a brand new pipe.
      • The new technology will add a 50 year life span to the existing pipes. It will also save a significant amount of money and reduce disruptions to the neighborhood. This task will be scheduled at night in order to convenience the business owners in the area. They are sensitive to the needs of the neighborhood and do not want to disrupt business operations.
      • Spring construction date: Mid-April
      • With respect to the new technology and its health concerns to the community this technology has been tested throughout 9 towns in the district.
      • Next step: MDC to provide MSD sheet for review of technology used for lining pipes.
      • Sewer Separation
        • MDC in design phase for 2 other projects.
        • Community meetings will be held in order to effectively work with the neighborhood.

Town Center

• Thanks to Herman Todd at Living Word Imprints the town center sign is up.
• Contract for environmental Clean Harbors is in the process.
• Fuss & O’Neil have been assigned authorization to do final remediation.
• Baldisar licensing agreement is on agenda for approval.
• By the end of the month should see workers making progress.
• Mafia blocks have been removed and the fence will be pulled out as soon as Clean Harbor can get out there.
• On 3/23/10 the corner properties on Sigourney and Homestead will be changed to commercial and residential use.
• Glen Geathers commented that he would like to see some mixed use retailers to serve the community. Possibly a Dunkin Donuts or another retailer that is convenience related. The plan would be need to be put out to RFP.

Demolition of Homestead

• American Linen Building has been demolished.
• Property owned by Ed Talarsky.

Community Vision

• Meeting will be held on April 17, 2010 at Milner Core Knowledge Academy from 9:00AM -1:00PM
• The goal of this meeting is to bring the neighborhood together to discuss a common vision.
• Denise hopes to break the group up into task force to resolve issues and bring the neighborhood together to leverage human and financial resources.

Meeting adjourned at 11:30